Anti-Israel protesters at California State University, Los Angeles, barricaded the Student Services building on Wednesday, leaving the school’s president trapped in her office.
A faction of protesters broke off from a campus encampment to demonstrate in front of the university’s Student Services building, ABC 7 reported. They proceeded to pile up numerous objects in front of the building’s entrance, using overturned golf carts, tables, and other pieces of furniture to create a barricade.
#BREAKING Pro-Palestinian protesters set up barricades at Cal State LA building that houses president’s office, trapping about a dozen campus employees in their offices https://t.co/AmvSD0S1Yg
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) June 13, 2024
Several protesters “chained themselves outside the main entrance.” University spokesperson Erik Hollins claimed that protesters had taken control of the first floor and blocked the building’s pathways, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“The protestors have engaged in unauthorized protest activity on the lower floors of the Student Services Building,” said Hollins. “We have asked building employees to shelter in place. Students and employees outside the building have been asked to leave the campus.”
This reportedly left the school’s president, Dr. Berenecea Johnson Eanes, “sheltering in place.” Her office is located on the building’s eighth floor. Employees above the first floor of the building were given the shelter-in-place order. University employees who did not work in the building were advised to leave the campus due to safety concerns.
“I can confirm that there are still a small number of administrators in the building,” Hollins said. “We are working through options to bring this fluid situation to the best resolution possible.”
The protesters denied any wrongdoing, however. The Students for Justice in Palestine at CSU Los Angeles took to Instagram to refute claims of anyone being held hostage.
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“AGAIN, LETS BE CLEAR: It’s Cal State LA telling you to shelter in place, to lock your doors,” SJP posted. “We are students who demand DIVESTMENT. DISCLOSURE. It’s Cal State LA who is holding you “hostage” in their COMPLACENCY of funding GENOCIDE.”
No updates were available about Dr. Eanes or other university employees who were forced to stay in the building because of the protesters’ actions.